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Hem val Darika
Hem val Darika D.O.B.: '''Unknown. While Hem appears to be in his mid thirties, no one knows for sure is age, as he has only been active in the city for the past year. '''Eye Color: Dark Navy Hair Color: Black Race/Ethnicity: Taelarysian Affiliation: The Dibsy Street Finders, The Most Faithful, some few aristocrats Player: Vadin Appearance Hem is a man who stands 6' 10" without any trouble. He has skin paler and purer than a newborn babe's and long, flowing hair twice as black as his face is white. Few people who see him out and about ever notice his dark locks, however, as he almost always wears his signature 'beak', a mask that covers the whole of his face and head with only goggles and a long, sloping nose patterned after a birds'. Personality Calling himself Hem val Darika, he is nothing if not a mixed man. On the one hand, he organized the Dibsy Street Finders, a group of orphans that spend all day and night searching for valuables and shinies to clean up and give to their boss and occasional roommate Mr.Hem. Somehow, he always manages to get anything and everything the kids find sold for a top price so the children can eat for another day. On the other hand, he does lead a small but active religious group. Going about their activities in the calmest and quietest of voices, they travel the city in spontaneously formed groups to find those who are mourning, critically ill, or are knocking on death's door. Hem and his followers are enigmatic with their reasons, but very few people ask The Most Faithful to leave once they've laid hands on the suffering individual. These sympathies, one noble and the other strange, make for a man that says little, expresses much, and does more. Hem val Darika is very firm in what he believes needs to be done, and very clever about how he does it. History As far as the Finders or the Faithful know, this man's name has always been Hem val Darika, and he has no mysterious past. The Finders only call him Mr.Hem, though, having been cautioned not to throw his full name around all the time, "just in case." The Faithful maintain that he appeared or manifested only very recently and fervently believe that his height, his calming effect on people, his strange appearance, and his apparent wisdom mean he truly is descended from divinity, something reflected by the 'val' before his surname. In reality, Hem does not know his past. He awoke, masked, on the lakeshore last year with no knowledge of his former life. He literally believes himself to be a lost son of the royal family or a new demigod sent to refresh replace the divine but diluted bloodline. Either way, he knows he will have to make himself recognized or necessary somehow. Hem is of the opinion that the royal brats are his greatest foes right now, and he's spent the last year preparing to take them out one by one in increasingly clever ways. Advantages The Finders I: These dozen or so kids between the ages of 8 and 14 scour the streets of a well-off Merchant District for valuables, which they then give to Hem. They live in an abandoned warehouse on Dibsy Street that never seems to get checked for squatters. While so many young children can be a burden for Hem, their reports about where the doctors are going and who they see being visited in the graveyard are a huge boon for val Darika's other enterprises. Informants I (Uncommon) The Most Faithful II: The Faithful count among their ranks a few members of the upper class and a few more members so poor they struggle daily to fight off starvation. The cultists are hopelessly devoted to Hem val Darika, their monster-headed prophet, and more fall under his sway with every miracle. Once a week they meet in a large, poorly lit auditorium down in the sewers and hold services, but their most well-known activity is seeing their leader in his holy garb in the street, throwing on their own identical outfit, and falling into step with him. These spontaneous followings never gather more than six truly devoted Faithful, however. They are under strict orders not to follow if they see the Hem already has enough acolytes. Contacts I (Uncommon), Streetfighting I (Uncommon) Aura of Peace I: With a whisper and a comforting touch, Hem can lull troubled minds into a calm, almost dreamy state of deep hypnosis. This ability also works on animals, though he speaks firmly instead of whispering and touches much less gingerly. This does not, however, pacify people already enraged and violent, people practiced in resisting mental assault, or people who already fought their way out of it once that day. (Uncommon) Story Elements None yet.